Clare Bowen Reveals Her Hopes for Scarlett in Season 5 of ‘Nashville’

Clare Bowen, the Australian actress behind the sweet and lovable Scarlett O’Connor on Nashville, hopes the doe-eyed country singer gets the "metamorphosis" she deserves in Season 5 of the hit drama.

“There's a lot that's changed with Scarlett,” Bowen reveals about her character in the new season. “She's gone on more of a discovery of caring about herself and taking care of herself and at the moment when you find her in Season 5, she's picking her feelings up off the ceiling and the walls and the carpet. It's a mess."

Fans of the show may remember her mental breakdown in Season 2, triggered when her mother came back into her life after years of a toxic relationship. After having a panic attack on stage, Scarlett checked into rehab and took a break from her music career. Season 4 found her coping with her mother’s death after she agreed to donate her liver to her brother Deacon (Charles Esten), who spent Season 3 battling cancer, along with dealing with a will-they-won’t-they situation with Gunnar (Sam Palladio) regarding their romantic feelings for one another.

Nashville Season 5 Coming to CMT

"She's so good at making things just okay and calm...and often that is to the detriment of her own feelings and her own well-being,” Bowen explains, in addition to saying that the character is often referred to as a victim.

"But she is going from that to being a survivor, which is what she really is, and she's discovering the fact that she is worth something. So that's what I've been just wanting so badly for her to discover about herself: what makes her happy, because she's very, very good at making everybody else happy. I hope this metamorphosis is something that we see in Season 5."

The Australian actress made headlines in 2015 when she chopped off her long locks in support of those battling life-threatening diseases. Her brother, Timothy, was diagnosed with cancer in early 2016. Bowen herself conquered the disease after a cancer diagnosis at the age of 4. She is engaged to musician Brandon Robert Young after he popped the question following a performance at the Grand Ole Opry in 2015.